All the Best returns to your airwaves for 2013 with a series of stories about people confronting out-of-the-ordinary life events. Two All the Best producers turn to fiction to tell personal truths about cancer, family and love. And we welcome back Zahra Stardust, a guest on the show last year, who was supposed to appear in an photography exhibition about empowered women in sport, until the art gallery banned the photograph.

Just in time for Christmas, All the Best brings you the story of a very unlikely pair of peopleâ€” a nun and an ex-criminalâ€” undertaking a very special project for those who face a festival season without love, family or presents. And we find out how the stories of your life could be preserved forever by the National Library of Australia through a new oral history project.

All the Best takes you to places of power outside the hallowed halls of parliamentsâ€” in the most unpredictable of places. A disgruntled solicitor swaps her law books for a pole, emerging as one of Australiaâ€™s leading pole dancers and a candidate for parliament to boot; while a woman remembers her teenage crush and the undeserving pedestal she placed him on while reading the private diary she kept at the time.

Hopeâ€™ and â€˜Politicsâ€™ arenâ€™t two words you often hear spoken together in Australia. But All the Best shares two stories about people inside and outside of Canberra who are hopefulâ€” passionately hopefulâ€” that they can make change happen. A unlikely trio of Liberal, Labor and Greens politicians work together on transgender issues; and an Irishman reflects on his countryâ€™s historical struggle for independence from the British at a rally for West Papua.

All the Best goes on a journey of dreams, spirits and intuition, through stories that canâ€™t be explained away in everyday terms. The lessons of nature are learned the hard way along the Murray River; ancestral spirits guide one woman from her broken childhood home to become a leader of Sydneyâ€™s Aboriginal community; and one young woman discovers the possibilities and perils of lucid dreamsâ€” with the help of a smartphone app.

Doorstop (n): 1. An interview by a journalist in which the interviewee is approached unknowingly at their place of residence or work. 2. An uninvited interview by paparazzi or tabloid reporter (Source: All the Best dictionary). Armed with microphones, our producers chase down their unsuspecting targets to ask them the big questions in life, on the spot.

All the Best brings you stories of people whose flames burn brightly, against the odds. A sonic submerging into the world of a woman who stutters, a 103 year old lady whoâ€™d probably put you to shame on the athletics field, and a former self-harmer tells how she lifted herself from the depths of depression.

The false starts, stumbles and humble beginnings of successful people before they â€˜made itâ€™. All the Best tells the early stories of foodies, fashionistas andâ€¦ Germaine Greer. Long before The Female Eunuch sparked a feminist revolution, Germaine Greer was a frightened schoolgirl, surviving World War 2 in a dysfunctional family.

Good things come to those who waitâ€¦ good things such as this weekâ€™s show! Sit with us and wait. Weâ€™ll wait for the tide to come in. For answers. For things to turn around. Weâ€™ll wait on highways and open plains, looking to hitch a ride home for Christmas. And, once the waiting is done, weâ€™ll hear from a woman who waited a very long time to tell her boss exactly what she thought of him.

All the Best has stories to make your skin crawl. Haunted house? Tick. Haunted e-mail address? Tick. Haunted dreams? Tick. And the creepiest part of all: Halloween costumes, for pets (where else but America). This weekâ€™s show is sure to leave you spooked.

All the Best brings you stories of transformation and revelation, about people who remake and uncover their true selves. A refugee from Afghanistan arrives in Australia and changes his nameâ€” twice; the story of a little girl who knew sheâ€™d been born in the wrong body; and an All the Best contributor tries to talk about sexuality with his conservative mother, without letting her know heâ€™s gay.

All the Best heads to the Warbuton Ranges in the heart of Western Australia, to hear a little-known part of Aussie history. In 1933, Christian missionaries arrived in the Ngaanyatjarra lands, and made contact with the Yarnangu people, who were nomadic and lived off the land. But unlike darker parts of our history, the community wasn't a part of the Stolen Generation. Todayâ€™s Yarnangu elders sit down and tell us what really happened on the Warbuton Mission.

We hear stories everywhere: in news reports, from our families and friends, even in gossip magazines. Some are true, some are false, some fall in between. All the Best blurs the lines between fact and fiction, featuring two writers talking about the challenge of sticking to either category. And weâ€™ll mix it up with some more great yarns from our best and brightest young storytellers.

Gather â€™round for some great yarns. Straight from the creative bustle that is the This is Not Art Festival in Newcastle, All the Best brings you tales from some of Australiaâ€™s up-and-coming storytellers. A fatherâ€™s obsession with snakes goes too far, a migrant kid goes in search of her Spanish heritage and a womanâ€™s desperate pursuit to capture the heart of a courier driver endsâ€¦ awkwardly.

Coast to Coast
Stories ahoy! All the Best brings you intriguing tales from the high seas. A South American geologist's rough-and-tumble journey on a raft to Australia leads to a life-changing encounter with Gough Whitlam. And, the real Puberty Blues: a young girl tries to join the blokey surf culture of the 1970s- but an initiation rite in the water goes terribly wrong.

We're sitting you down and telling you about the birds and the bees: and it's guaranteed to be just as awkward and intriguing as you remember it. From a parent- to-child sex talk that happens 10 years too late- just for your listening pleasure; an escort who falls for his client; to the craze for 'vagina spas' in Jakarta: All the Best does its very best to explain that crazy little thing called (making) love.

All the Best presents New Kids on the Block: No, not the 1990s-era boy band. Weâ€™re sharing stories about the unexpected fights and friendships that happen when new people come into a neighbourhood. The arrival of a new priest splits a parish community in Redfern, and a couple moving to Sydneyâ€™s fringes get more than what they bargained for.

This Friday night we will go to sleep underneath a blue moon and so this week on your radio All the Best brings you an episode about the night and what happens when you live by the moon. We follow a family through Ramadan, head to Darwin for Territory Day and ask a nurse why they donâ€™t like working on full moons.

This Friday night we will go to sleep underneath a blue moon and so this week on your radio All the Best brings you an episode about the night and what happens when you live by the moon. We follow a family through Ramadan, head to Darwin for Territory Day and ask a nurse why they donâ€™t like working on full moons.

The theme today on All the Best is taken from â€˜Im Not Thereâ€™ a film about Bob Dylan. In the film six actors play six incarnations of Bob Dylan and today we have stories about shifting personalities, missing family and friends who seem real one moment and gone the next. From Jasper who has 1 million imaginary friends, to a story about the discovery of a bag of memories and the attempt to get to know your mum.

This week's program is a challenge. On Sunday August 5 we sent 10 contributors out to the streets of Sydney and Melbourne and another on a Countrylink train towards Port Macquarie. The goal: To find a story in 24 hours. Want to hear how they went? You better stay tuned.

On todayâ€™s show, weâ€™re talking diaries... Justin Heazlewood aka The Bedroom Philosopher reads from his teen diaries, and author and playwright Anna Barnes on why we should all keep a diary. Also, our host Georgia reveals a shameful incident of diary snooping from her past!

Guests - weâ€™ve all been one, weâ€™ve all had one and weâ€™ve all subsequently gathered a few amusing - and often sordid - tales along the way. From the unwelcome, to the unexpected and from the unusual to the down-right crazy, guests can often prove to make life just a little more interesting. This week on All The Best, we will chronicle some of the more interesting sagas, such as couch-potato house mates, controversial cockatoos and all the goss from behind the walls of a 5 star hotel

Where were you when the Cronulla Riots broke out? The answer to this question is something that most Sydneysiders can recall with ease. This weekâ€™s episode explores the Cronulla riots and the topic of Nationalism from the perspective of an â€˜accidental passerbyâ€™ and and â€˜accidental localâ€™. Sometimes, things arenâ€™t always as they seem.

Today's show features two stories about what happens when the only way to talk about something very very private is to put it out in public. Recorded live at our storytelling night at the 2012 Sydney Writers' Festival.

On this week's show we re-played you one of our favourite episodes to date - 'The Block'.
The Block in Redfern has a well-documented history of drugs, violence, and riots. Perhaps you've never heard otherwise. Maybe you've avoided knowing much about it at all, having never stepped foot on Eveleigh Street and it's surrounds.
On All The Best, you'll walk the streets of this community. Filled with stories of family and passing travellers, of death, loss of faith and redemption - we take you right into the heart of Redfern, to one of Australia's most talked about addresses.

Snuggle up to your pillow and settle in to snooze as we read you A Bedtime Story. We bring you stories delivered via intercontinental cassettes, take a magical taxi ride and get a bunch of 11 y.o's to write us a bedtime story.

Summary:

Snuggle up to your pillow and settle in to snooze as we read you A Bedtime Story. We bring you stories delivered via intercontinental cassettes, take a magical taxi ride and get a bunch of 11 y.o's to write us a bedtime story.

This week all of our content fell through on Wednesday...so we decided to set ourselves a challenge: make a radio show in 24 hours...still on theme. Tune in to hear us bring together stories about first impressions.

Stories of being a witness, of things we witness, and of stuff we wish weâ€™d never witnessed. All the Best will witness a death, an exorcism and a highway pileup. And it ain't all as morbid as that, we promise!

Summary:

Stories of being a witness, of things we witness, and of stuff we wish weâ€™d never witnessed. All the Best will witness a death, an exorcism and a highway pileup. And it ain't all as morbid as that, we promise!

It's Christmas time! We couldn't resist putting together some quirky stories to fit the season: Why is there a Cod in the bathtub? When did Santa start riding a motorbike? And who is... The Christmas Goblin?

Summary:

It's Christmas time! We couldn't resist putting together some quirky stories to fit the season: Why is there a Cod in the bathtub? When did Santa start riding a motorbike? And who is... The Christmas Goblin?

This morning on your radio: the best of All the Best! Join us as we relive some of our favourite moments of 2011, including a move to Molong, Sydney's first cross dressing murderer and we meet a community at war.

One story that will be featured on All The Best this week explores the "Twilightâ€ of a woman as she passes from one stage of life into another. Through her daughter, we learn how her family has come to embrace this change as dementia steals her away to that place it takes all its captives.

This morning on All the Best we are turning the microphone back onto the station as we bring you stories about the FBi family. This morning we have stories about from the team who put together the tales you hear each week. How did we end up sleeping at FB

Summary:

This morning on All the Best we are turning the microphone back onto the station as we bring you stories about the FBi family. This morning we have stories about from the team who put together the tales you hear each week. How did we end up sleeping at FBi to bring you the show once? The program is only possible with your support. Itâ€™s what keeps the station on air, go to fbiradio.com to help us keep telling your stories!

This morning on All the Best we are turning the microphone back onto the station as we bring you stories about the FBi family. This morning we have stories about our music director Dan Zilber, one of FBi's first ever presenters Levins and about a 16 year old Harry White who decided FBi had to put him on air.
All the Best is run by a team of over 30 volunteers and every hour of radio we bring you takes abut 50 hours to make. Everyone in the team are volunteers, they do it for the love, because they believe that stories should be told and shared on the radio. The program is only possible with your support. It is what keeps the station on air. Call 833 22 945 or head to support on the FBi homepage.

We all still remember the days when we first learnt to swim, and the arms which kept us afloat. But the stories we'll bring you this week are of those who have never lost their deep connection with the water and somehow have found themselves back by the s

Summary:

We all still remember the days when we first learnt to swim, and the arms which kept us afloat. But the stories we'll bring you this week are of those who have never lost their deep connection with the water and somehow have found themselves back by the sea, time and time again. Join us as we dive into those lives and get lost at sea.

Get ready to talk about the future. We speak to a guy whose whole life was based around his hands, and just a few weeks ago he lost his fingers. Weâ€™ll meet Luke- and learn about his battle against climate change. Also we head to Berlin, only to be tele

Summary:

Get ready to talk about the future. We speak to a guy whose whole life was based around his hands, and just a few weeks ago he lost his fingers. Weâ€™ll meet Luke- and learn about his battle against climate change. Also we head to Berlin, only to be teleported home again. Futurescapes, on All The Best this week.

Have you ever lived another life? Do you pretend to be someone you're not?
On All the Best this week we meet some who are loud and proud about their other identities and some who would rather it be kept a secret.

It was an adventure or three on All the Best today, where our theme was Travelers. We found ourselves ourselves bare arsed and mangled after being run over a tank in Kabul, discovered out what it was like to grow up as a child of a diplomat- or "diplobrat" in 5, 6 or even 10 countries, and how did almost the whole population of an island off the coast of Greece come to relocate to Kensington, Sydney?

This week we talked about secret recipes - those hidden little secrets some people indulge in, whether they be for food, success, or maybe even a really good personal vice. We also had the smell of something special wafting through the studio as this week's presenter, Jesse Cox, was cooked up surprise dish.

This week we head out of our comfort zone and leave all we know behind: we're left stranded in a foreign country, taken underground to Sydney's old rave scene, walk inside the walls of the Christmas Island detention centre, and we hear about a preacher who walks into the local bar and orders nothing but milk.

As we all know one day can change everything. It can be the difference between love, injury, jobs, fun and...not having these. Today on All The Best we are taking a snapshot of what it would be like to have "A Day in the Life" of someone else. This could be the average day for someone who ran off and joined the circus, the inevitable predictably of everyday spent in Waverley Cemetery or a day that's really a night for someone who works on the roads by moonlight. And then there is the 11Eleven project that attempts to bring days just like these together and share them with the rest of the world.

Have you ever been lying in bed and a song comes on about the time right at that moment? Maybe M. Ward's '4 Hours in Washington'? "It's one in the morning and I can't sleep..." or as you glance at the giant clock on the train platform you remember Tom Waits, "My baby's leaving town on the 2:19"
This morning, we are interested in the hours and minutes that make up a day - 24 hours to be exact. This episode of ATB takes a trip through 24 hours with songs and stories.

If you are still in bed, stay there! This morning on All the Best we read you a bedtime story. Reach for the hot chocolate, pull up the covers and enjoy ATB's spin on some old classics and new tales...

Have you ever thought you sucked at picking up women? Have you ever been in love, only to have your love not returned? On All the Best this week we explore the many facets of unrequited love. We take advice from a dating coach, listen to now-well-known writer's angsty teen diary readings, explore the ups and downs of polyamourous relationships, learn how to write the perfect love song and bury ourselves in the oral histories of one of our contributor's grandma, who has forgotten who he is.

This week on ALL THE BEST, we talk about all those things you're not supposed to do... Like eat each other. Some taboos are more obvious than others, but as we'll hear when explored they are sometimes not all that bad. We'll talk to a sex worker who caters to the disabled community, have a giggle at a local comedian who gets his laughs from taboo topics, and we'll also hear from a young man who came out to his church at Hillsong.

Where do you live...? Does your neighbour drop weird letters to you late on a Saturday night? Could you write a book about living with your family? Have you ever lived not knowing where you'll sleep each night? Or have you ever had to move somewhere against your will, even if your loved ones thought it best? This Sat we look at all kinds of house and home with a show about 'Residence', on All The Best.

On All the Best this week, we looked at value- the value of the life of an old racing greyhound called Sparky, the value of 5000 comic books to one guy, the value of someone's lifelong possessions after their death, and a life lived trying to escape the value of consumer goods.

This week All The Best took a look at Change. We looked at individual change: one persons total shift in the way they view themselves as a result of a serious accident. We looked at generational change: the vast differences in life experiences between three women in one family. We looked at change through the lens of music: speaking to Red Riders about how their band and the whole Sydney scene has shifted since they were formed. And finally we spoke to one pretty cool dude named Mick, he hasn't changed yet but man he really wants to...

In 2011 it's hard to imagine a Sydney without FBi, and thankfully we don't have to, but in its 8 year gestation from 1995 to it's launch date of August 29, 2003, the story of FBi is a tale of tumultuous and triumphant times. Join us to hear how FBi came t

Summary:

In 2011 it's hard to imagine a Sydney without FBi, and thankfully we don't have to, but in its 8 year gestation from 1995 to it's launch date of August 29, 2003, the story of FBi is a tale of tumultuous and triumphant times. Join us to hear how FBi came to be.

This week we're all about Exhibitionists. As we discover, there's much more to exhibitionism than just showing off. We speak to someone who uses their skin as a canvas and another who made money from having artist's paint their naked image. Speaking of nudity... we also take you to an underground sexuality festival and we take a walk down one of our city's most iconic public spaces to chat with the beautiful voices who exhibit their talents on the thoroughfare.

All the Best Goes to the Edge Of Nowhere. We'll check out life in "The Ponds"- Sydney's newest suburb; explore the afterlife; journey to the end of Sydney's railway; hear the story of the Peace Bus as it returns from the edge and speak to an individual who identifies as intersex. 23-4-2011

On the show this week we looked at the nature of mirrors and reflections. Our theme took us to meet a six month old baby. A prisoner on death row. A girl who lives her life according to her favourite fictional characters, and someone who looked in the mirror and saw a different gender to what they actually were- and decided to do something about it.

This week on All The Best we talk about dropping out... of society, institutional service, inanimate objects, and even consciousness. We speak to a man who chose to become homeless and another whose epilepsy means he routinely has moments his brain can't remember. We also get the rare chance to talk to somebody about leaving the Australian Defence Force. You'll also get to spend a day dropping out of planes with one of our terrified reporters and a record-breaking skydiver and base jumper!!

Coming up this week on All the Best an eerie feeling will creep over us as we explore Death. we converse with a medium, we'll explore the daily life of a taxidermist, we find out about the ways in which different cultures and religions deal with death and dying and we might just ghostbust a ghoul or two...

Numbers somehow contribute to almost every aspect of our life. One of the first things we do is learn how to count and from this point on it's all about bus numbers, phone numbers and money. Next week on All the Best we take a trip to the Bingo Club, look at the massive amount of rubbish we get rid of ever year, have a chat with a Professor of Mathematics and delve into the world of Numerology to understand what it means to live your life ruled by numbers.

We're taking you behind closed doors. You'll get an insider's perspective on our of our country's most heavily protected and controversial facilities: a detention centre. We'll also be hearing from a long-term sufferer of agoraphobia who is literally petrified to leave her own house. It's not all seriousness, however... you'll get to take a female-only swim and hear about the hidden thoughts of aspiring comedians.

Today on All The Best, we're big, we're bright and some of us happen to be colour blind!
We also chat to someone who discovers their true 'colours' and another person who uses coloured clothing to express themselves.

On All the Best this week we broke the golden rule of radio and bring to you one hour of silence- stories of silence that is. We find out what it's like to hear sound for the very first time, and what it's like remember through music. How awkward it is to eat dinner in silence with strangers and how it feels to experience a chamber where sound does not exist.

n 2010 itâ€™s hard to imagine a Sydney without FBi, and thankfully we donâ€™t have to, but in its 8 year gestation from 1995 to itâ€™s launch date of August 29, 2003, the story of how FBi is a tale of tumultuous and triumphant times. First broadcast as part of the 2010 Instant Karma supporter drive, All the Best tells the Story of FBi. If you like what you hear, consider supporting the station? http://www.fbiradio.com/content.php/468.html to sign up and keep us doing what we do.
Producers: Jesse Cox, Eliza Sarlos
Technical: Shelagh Stanton
Presenter: Eliza Sarlos
NB: Strong language contained in the first five minutes of the piece.

TIP HOUSE ST PETERS from Vanessa Berry, HEAPS DECENT's detours and destinations, a post card from KINGS CROSS and, did you know DARLING HARBOUR was the site for the first working day strikes, and more?

PHIL JAMES grafs on Ray Hughes' wall and scores, THE LIVING DEAD discovers Sydney's first composer, Isaac Nathan, we bail up master story teller and casual Sydney historian (aka he's not one) PERRY KEYES, PENGUIN PLAYS ROUGH joins us on the radio and we get a postcard from Newtown.

Ever wanted to outsmart the smarts? Lawrence Leung gives it a go, testing David Astle. The results? Not awful... Exclusive to podcast for All the Best, we bring you this story as an accompaniment to The Enigmatic DA, both first broadcast on Melbourne's 3RRR.

Struggle over the cryptic crossword each week? Meet the man who makes 'em, David Astle. Lawrence Leung brings us this story.

Summary:

From an early age, David Astle couldn't read a street sign without seeing anagrams. Decades later, he has become the faceless nemesis who frustrates tens of thousands of people every week. His opponents simply know him as "DA" the cryptic crossword maker for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Lawrence Leung brings us this story, originally broadcast on Melbourne's 3RRR.

Jesse Cox traces the fairy floss and dancing shoes beneath the sand to uncover the story of one of Sydneyâ€™s first theme parks.

Summary:

Do you have fond memories of riding the big dipper at Luna Park? Getting a sugar high at Australiaâ€™s wonderland out at Rooty Hill? Did you know that before any of those theme parks existed there was a Wonderland on the headland at Tamarama beach? Jesse Cox traces the fairy floss and dancing shoes beneath the sand to uncover the story of one of Sydneyâ€™s first theme parks.

On Sydneyâ€™s harbor foreshore sits one of the worldâ€™s most recognizable buildings. Apparently two thirds of the worldâ€™s population can name the Sydney Opera House on sight. Thatâ€™s over four billion people.
So whatâ€™s it like to play there? If youâ€™re a classical violinist or a Shakespearean actor, maybe youâ€™ve thought about it. If youâ€™re a sculptor and singer/songwriter from Armidale, and have never even been to the Opera House, you probably havenâ€™t.
LJ Hill certainly hadnâ€™t. Until a chance encounter at Byron Bay Blues Fest last weekend turned into a night on the Concert Hall stage, 48 hours later. What happened? Julia Thomas joined him to find out.

There are 18 million people in the world who share your birthday, but this shouldnâ€™t make you feel you are any less special. Nevertheless, sometimes it can be hard to share. Vanessa Berry tells this story.

Bicycle couriers were at their peak during the dot com boom with over a hundred bikes throughout the city. Now that number has more than
halved but there are still a bunch of dedicated riders who spend their days couriering packages - the urgent as well as the bizarre - and dodging Sydney's traffic. Jesse Cox literally caught up with some of the couriers who call the city their work place.